


terrors in the park

by mellifluous (TpLoz)



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, Meet-Crazy, essentially crack but treated seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TpLoz/pseuds/mellifluous
Summary: The rustling grew louder and more intense the more Juho pondered and so he turned his head to see HOW it was getting louder.And then he promptly fell on his ass and let out a scream of terror as a humanoid bush looked at him with wide eyes and an accompanying shining grin."Aw, don't leaf now," the horrific thing teased[...]or.Juho wanted a nice, relaxing midnight walk in the park, but Juho can't have nice things apparently.
Relationships: Baek Juho | Zuho/Lee Sanghyuk | Dawon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

00:12

  
  


_ Rustle. Rustle. _

Juho sucked in a breath at the rustling of leaves from somewhere behind him. He was just out for a late-night walk to stretch his legs; sitting at a desk at all hours will do some wicked things to your body. However, his walk had just been horrifically interrupted by a bush - or more importantly, what was in the bush.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was just two teenagers being horny. Or maybe he was about two seconds away from death if he didn't get out of here immediately. 

Juho really didn't want to get bludgeoned or slashed to death right now. He had far too many unfinished tracks just sitting on his desktop, that it would be criminal.

So, no. He wasn't going to die tonight. No matter what.

The rustling grew louder and more intense the more Juho pondered and so he turned his head to see HOW it was getting louder.

And then he promptly fell on his ass and let out a scream of terror as a humanoid bush looked at him with wide eyes and an accompanying shining grin.

"Aw, don't leaf now," the horrific thing teased Juho as if the pointy-nosed man wasn't on the ground, frozen in terror. "Hm... did I break you?"

The bush-man leaned down to inspect Juho, but Juho just scrambled back and away.

Juho's every nerve-ending was set alight and his legs were shaking slightly where they were poised, ready to run away; maybe without him.

“Sta-stay back!” said Juho, as the bush-man advanced onto him. The pointed gravel under Juho’s hand stung as he tried to flee further from the leaf-covered maniac. Maybe this really was the end, thought Juho, as escaping seemed impossible. 

Just then, a small yapping dog came out of nowhere and began to go for the leaf-swaddled man and Juho looked on from his spot on the ground as his pursuer fled while cursing and evading the dog snapping at his ankles, or so Juho assumed from the dim-lighting.

Either way, Juho was free and swiftly stood up and ran back to his apartment.

  
  


11:23

  
  


Seokwoo still hadn’t stopped laughing over the counter at him. It had been approximately four minutes and he just wouldn’t stop. Even when Juho pouted at him! So much for their friendship…

“Wait, okay, so, this guy dressed as a bush jumped out and chased you in the park last night?” asked Seokwoo, who was choking out the words as he said them.

“Yes Seokwoo, I already told you that part. Don't you have coffee to make or something?” asked Juho, his voice going deep with annoyance. He gripped his cup of coffee in his hands which he had bought in hopes chasing away the tendrils of exhaustion after a sleepless night.

"Wait, I was talking to Taeyang the other morning and he mentioned something strange terrorising couples in the park at night," said Seokwoo, while tapping his fingers against the hardwood surface of the counter. "I can't remember exactly how he described it, but it must be your bush-man."

"Well, they definitely still haven't caught the guy," said Juho. He felt more anger bubble up at the park terroriser, what gave this guy the idea to terrorise these people? However, this anger quickly dissipated as he thought of an idea.

"I'll give him a taste of his own medicine!" 

Seokwoo took in the determined look in his eye and silently prayed that the bush-man would quit before Juho got his revenge.

00:46

Hell hath no fury like a man humiliated.

Juho laid in wait among the thin shrubs of the park, poised and prepared for the offender to appear.

However, time passed and couples came and left, but bush-man never showed up.

Juho ended up doing a walk of shame from the park to his apartment, dressed head-to-toe in a camouflage get-up with leaves stuck to it. He only got a  _ few _ weird looks. And thankfully, no one thought he was the bush swaddled offender who had recently terrorised the park.

11:32

“Taeyang said that no one has seen the prankster in the park in a while.”

Seokwoo told him over the smooth lines of jazz that he chose to play in his cafe. Juho had found himself in Seokwoo’s cafe as usual, where minimalism meets cosy and Juho actually felt relaxed. At this point, it’s become a part of his schedule, unless he has some crazy deadline to meet.

“I wonder where that asshole went to…” Juho mumbled as he stared off into space. Seokwoo drifted back to the register as customers entered the cafe. He had mentioned something about closing early today when Juho had come in, but Juho couldn’t remember why now…

Oh! He spotted a poster on the wall about the cafe hiring part-timers. That made sense. And now that Juho thought about it, why has it taken Seokwoo so long to hire employees for the cafe?

After Seokwoo tended to the customers, he came back over and Juho asked him why.

“Ah, but I did. Don’t you remember Hwiyoung?”

“No… I really don’t.” Was he experiencing amnesia or something? Was he about to enter some cliche drama plot? Juho desperately hoped not (even if he desperately loved those cheesy drama plotlines).

Seokwoo thought for a minute before his eyes lit up in clarity. “Actually that was when you had that really huge project and were away from the cafe for about 3 weeks. Hwiyoung only worked for 3 weeks before he had to quit.” Seokwoo looked sad about it, which made Juho curious but there are some things that not even best friends are privy to.

“But it worked out in the end, because the cafe got quiet for a while after that so I didn’t need the extra worker,” Seokwoo added.

“I hope you’ll get more free time now so you can rest, Seok’,” said Juho. He’d seen Seokwoo slave away at this cafe for the past year with barely a break, and no matter how much he insists that he feels great and well rested, Juho knows how bone tired he must be. And maybe he’d be able to date Taeyang with all that free time and energy to actually realise how much he likes him.

Juho stayed at the cafe for an hour more while thinking about the songs he was currently working on. 

Later in the evening, Seokwoo sent him a text:  _ i found the perfect guy! :) he already has some barista experience and seems really interested in learning more about how i do things!  _

_ I cant wait to meet the guy! And keep an eye on him hehe, _ Juho replied.

_ don’t scare him!!! :< _

Juho laughed as he imagined his friend saying it before replying,  _ okay okay, i will be good :) _

14:23

Juho was indeed planning to be good, but the second he had walked through the door of Seokwoo’s cafe,  _ A Chance Found in July _ , the New Guy took one look at him and dropped the cup he was cleaning.

It was just past the lunch rush so the cafe was vacant of customers, but even if it wasn’t, Seokwoo still probably would have sworn out loud, whipped out and glared daggers at Juho.

Juho held up his hands innocently. “I didn’t do anything!” he whined.

“Juhooo! I told you not to scare him!”

Seeing the tree-like man stomp his foot and huff was very comical for Juho, but he used every ounce of control to keep his composure for fear that his friend would kick him out and ban him. So, instead of laughing and poking fun at the man-child, he pouted and said, “But I didn’t.”

Seokwoo ignored him in favour of helping the new guy clean up the remnants of the cup, and assuring him that he did nothing wrong.

After the less than perfect first impression, Juho coughed to get the guy’s attention and held his hand out to him, “Hi, I’m Juho.” 

The guy slowly came closer towards him, as if Juho were a snappy dog, and said in a crystal clear voice, “Hi, I’m Sanghyuk.”

Juho was mesmerised by his voice, and his sincere brown eyes. It seemed like he was still embarrassed about the cup so Juho tried to lighten up the atmosphere.

“I’m sorry for frightening you when I came in! But you should know… Seokwoo may be all tall and handsome, but if you think he can coordinate those limbs, then you’d be very, very wrong,” said Juho, conspiratorially raising his eyebrows for comedic effect. 

It earned a small laugh from Sanghyuk, and a scoff from Seokwoo.

“As if you’re the most graceful man in Seoul, Juho. Didn’t you spill some coffee on your very expensive computer a few weeks ago?”

“I was sleep-deprived, that’s different!”

“Okay, but what about that time you ripped your pants ice skating-”

“Seokwoo! Stop,” whined Juho, at a triumphant Seokwoo. Juho cursed at the fact that he didn’t have enough embarrassment fuel against Seokwoo. Although, Sanghyuk was laughing and seemed to have relaxed a bit.

Juho got his regular coffee and sat at the counter near the coffee machine, which is where all the teenage girls like to sit to ogle at Seokwoo. And as Juho sits there, he ogles at Sanghyuk. At first, he pinned it down to curiosity - Sanghyuk was new and therefore interesting - however, it eventually became a marvel to spectate his coffee making. The concentrated furrow of his brows, the way he bit his lip when he made a mistake, and the way his hands were so careful, yet sure as he worked on each cup of coffee.

A few days passed, and Juho became so enamoured that he hadn’t heard Seokwoo call his name.

Maybe the extra buzz of energy in his veins the past few days was somehow less about the anticipation for coffee and more about the anticipation of seeing Sanghyuk. 

“What are you writing today?” asked Seokwoo, after he had finally caught the attention of his friend. 

Juho, still in a daze, couldn’t stop Seokwoo from pinching his lyric sheet from under his palm and he gave a weak shout in protest.

“Seokwoooo, give that back!”

Seokwoo read the lyrics with a wide grin, and Juho felt dread build in his stomach as he wracked his brain for what he had written on it. 

Seokwoo finished reading and slowly handed the sheet back to Juho with a knowing smile on his face. 

“So, a love song, huh? Who’s the muse?” He waggled his eyebrows at Juho, and Juho had never hated him more than in that moment. 

Juho groaned and flopped back into the high stool(well, as much as he could without falling - there is no back support with these things).

“Go look after your new employee, Seokwoo.”

“But he’s very, very capable. Don’t you think so, Juho?” said Seokwoo, loud enough to catch Sanghyuk’s attention as if he wasn’t already very invested.

Usually, Juho would tell his friend to fuck off now, but Sanghyuk’s full attention was on him and anyway, it’s not like Juho could deny that Sanghyuk was capable…

“Yes, Seokwoo, he is,” said Juho, cheeks blossoming with red.

Sanghyuk looked a little bit surprised at his admission, before he grinned and said, “Thank you, Juho.”

Juho was transfixed, again, except this time it was at Sanghyuk’s grin. There was a little bit of familiarity to it that Juho couldn’t recall but other than that it was gorgeous, and Juho wasn’t able to pull his gaze away from it until the other man went back to cleaning the counters.

Seokwoo cleared his throat a little, and Juho looked at him to see a shit-eating grin adorning his face. 

He mouthed at Juho, “You are so gone.”

And Juho couldn’t fault him for that, because Juho was so gone. He was head over heels for this man and he couldn’t surmise why. He decided to watch him some more to figure out why.


	2. Chapter 2

15:56

Juho wasn’t sure what switch had flipped, but something had. After his ‘creepy staring’ as Seokwoo had referred to it as (Juho would like to mention that Seokwoo once stared at Taeyang for a full hour before Taeyang came over to ask him to stop, and somehow they still exchanged numbers? Seokwoo insists he was just admiring Taeyang’s uniform, but Juho is not convinced), but after the staring episodes where Juho just couldn’t stop watching Sanghyuk at work, Sanghyuk had begun to watch him back while Juho worked on his music.

A few times, Juho had been engrossed in his work and had neglected his coffee, but instead of suddenly remembering and having to stomach stone cold coffee, he had been greeted with freshly brewed and warm coffee. On one of such occasions, Juho had caught Sanghyuk switching the cups, which had made him grin perhaps too brightly and he had to cover it with his hand to not blow his cover. 

So, with Sanghyuk also not covertly staring and also giving him free and fresh coffee, Juho’s heart was going to burst. And the 3 love songs he was working on would say the same.

However, on this particular day, Juho went to drink just as Sanghyuk was swapping the cups. Juho absentmindedly reached out his hand but jumped slightly when he came into contact with skin instead of ceramic. He looked up to Sanghyuk’s wide eyes blinking at him.

“I-I was just giving you a fresh cup… This variety really shouldn’t be drunk cold,” Sanghyuk said, “At no extra cost of course! It’s on me.”

Juho was shocked, Sanghyuk had been paying for the fresh cups all this time?

“But, why? This must have cost you a lot,” said Juho, as he frowned.

Sanghyuk laughed, and held a hand up in denial, “No! Not at all. You work so hard, and it’s nice to have a warm cup of coffee as you work instead of a cold one. Take it as my treat.”

He sounded so insistent, but Juho shook his head, “I really appreciate that - you are too kind, but this is so much.” He thought for a moment before continuing, “At least let me buy you dinner in return?” 

“Y-you mean, a date?”

Juho hadn’t thought about it like that, but who was he to deny that he wants to take this man on a date?

Juho nodded, “Yes, although if you’re uncomfortable with that-”

“No! I’m not! I mean- That would be really nice,” Sanghyuk smiled and Juho’s heart squeezed. He hadn’t expected that reaction but it was very, very welcome.

20:36

Sanghyuk was an amazingly funny and sweet guy, and Juho was feeling blessed and maybe like the luckiest guy in the world. 

They had eaten dinner, which had been a little bit awkward at first, but once they got their food, the conversation flowed! Juho learned that Sanghyuk has a little sister whom he loves very much and had actually teased him when he told her about his date. Sanghyuk also loves video games and bingsu and he loves to make people love.

Juho couldn’t be any less besotted with the man as he takes so much interest with Juho’s career and says that he’d love to see Juho’s studio and also his cat, Huru.

After they ate and Juho prompted that they should go do something else, Sanghyuk gently asked, “Would you like to go to a pc bang?”

“Oh, sure, although I’m not much of a gamer,” said Juho, “But maybe I can try to play something?”

Sanghyuk grinned maniacally and Juho’s heart stopped for a moment as he thought back to that night in the park, but he easily shook it off and got dragged to the nearest PC bang with laughter in his lungs. 

Sanghyuk’s hand felt warm in his, and he easily spent a few hours with him in the PC bang that night.

13:49

Seokwoo had had enough. When he had hired Sanghyuk, he hadn’t imagined him taking a shine to his best friend and then having to endure weeks of them being slimy (read: sweet) with each other in the cafe.

The sweet smiles, the coy looks, the free coffee that he  _ knew _ Sanghyuk was giving Juho, and although he told Seokwoo he would pay for it, Seokwoo had grudgingly said no because he didn’t want to get in the way of Juho’s love life. Even though it was very gross! And not what Seokwoo had signed up to!

Either way, Seokwoo was making a profit, so some extra free coffee for his best friend wasn’t going to kill his business. He would have given Juho many free coffees, but Juho was stubborn and would always throw money at him somehow, and usually too much, so he’d learned to just let his friend pay.

Regardless of all Seokwoo’s protests, he was glad his best friend was happy. A few weeks ago, he had been a bit worried after the park incident, but it seemed to have left Juho’s mind, thankfully. The sleepless nights were long gone and Juho’s cheeks had filled out a bit more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh, the middle of fics is always difficult for me but i hope this showed a sense of their relationship progressing :)

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in my google drive for several months and I just really want to finish it so here's part 1!! hoping to release the next part in a day or two seeing as most of this is written, just need to finish the ending


End file.
